What does the "Woe is me, Mercedes has been out developed" crew have to say now?

So much overreaction the past week.

You can only call what you see, Ferrari had the better race pace in 4 of the last 5 races (and qualifying too in 3/5) which ordinarily you would call track specific but they were very quick in Spa on race day which was a big anomaly.

We still have to see how tomorrows race goes, but it is certainly advantage Mercedes for the rest of the year now for me. For various reasons, Ferrari blew it when they had the car to get solid points on the board. Red Bull also seem unlikely to feature in the run in.

I still think Red Bull will feature heavily in at least 2 of the remaining 5 races (so that includes Suzuka). Perhaps Mexico and Abu Dhabi on merit.

Yet another crash for Grosjean. If he was a young driver he'd be getting ripped apart.

I agree. If that were Stroll there would already be 5 threads open lambasting him, his dad, his siblings etc... As for the crash itself, there were some car control issues there. A better driver might have been able to overcome the initial kick from the rear end. I must say it was fun to look at the faces of the Haas team members leaders and members after the accident.

P.S. I couldn't help but notice the care with which Grosjean delicately and precisely replaced the steering wheel to a car that was clearly destined for a flat bed.

Were Ferrari & probably Red Bull struggling for pace due to cooler conditions?

If yes & if it's sunny tomorrow as predicted, both these teams could be more competitive than today.

They will probably me more competitive in the race either way. Hamilton looked and sounded right on the money today though... if he wins tomorrow he only needs 2nd places here on in. That would be the point where only a DNF for Hamilton will bring Vettel any chance of the WDC.

Nah, Romain has only ever been as fast as the cars he's been driving. The Lotus in 2012 and 2013 were on par with or better than the Ferraris IMO. Given what we've seen from Kimi since 2014, I think it's reaching to say he drove anywhere close to the full potential of those cars.

Interesting session. Mercedes are back on track in terms of performance. They certainly look like they are the strongest here but without full practice sessions to gauge long run pace, it's still too early to jump to conclusions about tomorrow. Clearly the Merc likes a cooler track. The performance was there all day and the lap times were insane to see!

The Ferrari in Vettel's hands was also very quick and we'll see if it is even stronger in the race like usual. It's looking like the gap to Mercedes is large enough here that it's not all about engine modes.

I think race will be closer although looking at Bottas Q2 time on harder tyres he was ahead of RBR. Looks like Mercedes has the pace this weekend and he should be getting podium

Zoue wrote:

oh, and on another note, is there a reason for Kimi's woeful performance today?

I missed the Q1 but Kimi posted 2nd best time a tenth down on Hamilton. Q2 was also ok I guess as he was on Soft tyres rather than SS. But crappy Q3 section and horrible day overall with the crash, 5 place grid penalty.

Nah, Romain has only ever been as fast as the cars he's been driving. The Lotus in 2012 and 2013 were on par with or better than the Ferraris IMO. Given what we've seen from Kimi since 2014, I think it's reaching to say he drove anywhere close to the full potential of those cars.

That's a little unfair to say in my opinion. He has been quicker than any teammate he has been paired with. He was quicker than Raikonnen at the end of their partnership, quicker than Maldonado, quicker than Gutierrez, quicker than Magnussen. He definitely has speed, unless you think all those teammates he had in the past are all slow. He doesn't have front runner level pace obviously, but it is F1 worthy.

Nah, Romain has only ever been as fast as the cars he's been driving. The Lotus in 2012 and 2013 were on par with or better than the Ferraris IMO. Given what we've seen from Kimi since 2014, I think it's reaching to say he drove anywhere close to the full potential of those cars.

That's a little unfair to say in my opinion. He has been quicker than any teammate he has been paired with. He was quicker than Raikonnen at the end of their partnership, quicker than Maldonado, quicker than Gutierrez, quicker than Magnussen. He definitely has speed, unless you think all those teammates he had in the past are all slow. He doesn't have front runner level pace obviously, but it is F1 worthy.

None of those guys is that fast by F1 standards. The only really fast teammate he's had was Alonso when he was a rookie and that was a lopsided slaughter (okay it was under really unfair circumstances as Grosjean came in mid-season at Renault). To me, Grosjean is an average F1 driver. If you were to rank all of the drivers, he would come in somewhere between 8-12.

Nah, Romain has only ever been as fast as the cars he's been driving. The Lotus in 2012 and 2013 were on par with or better than the Ferraris IMO. Given what we've seen from Kimi since 2014, I think it's reaching to say he drove anywhere close to the full potential of those cars.

That's a little unfair to say in my opinion. He has been quicker than any teammate he has been paired with. He was quicker than Raikonnen at the end of their partnership, quicker than Maldonado, quicker than Gutierrez, quicker than Magnussen. He definitely has speed, unless you think all those teammates he had in the past are all slow. He doesn't have front runner level pace obviously, but it is F1 worthy.

None of those guys is that fast by F1 standards. The only really fast teammate he's had was Alonso when he was a rookie and that was a lopsided slaughter (okay it was under really unfair circumstances as Grosjean came in mid-season at Renault). To me, Grosjean is an average F1 driver. If you were to rank all of the drivers, he would come in somewhere between 8-12.

Yeah not too far off from where i rate him. My whole point is that he has enough speed for a midfield team to want to have him, as that was the question being asked.